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Create Your Own Christmas Tree Skirt

You can make a homemade Christmas tree skirt.  It does require a basic knowledge of sewing and a sewing machine.  The Christmas tree skirt I have made in this project is reversible.  It has ties at the top center back to hold the skirt in place.  The skirt described in this article is reversible with a solid color on one side and a printed fabric on the reverse side.  You may choose to have two solid colors such as red on one side and green on the other, or a quilt print on one side and coordinating fabric on the other.  There are many fabric combinations that would make an attractive Christmas tree skirt.

To make the Christmas tree skirt, you will need:

1 ¼ yd of 45 inch fabric of solid color

1 ¼ yd of 45 inch fabric of print fabric

Coordinating thread

Sewing machine

Pins

Tape measure

String

Pencil or fabric marking pen

Scissors

To cut the Christmas tree skirt pieces, lay the solid color material on a table or flat surface so that the selvages are together.  Tie the pencil or fabric marking pen to a sting; and measure 22 inched from the pencil.  Hold the string on the fold of the fabric, centered between each fabric fold edge and draw an arc from the fold toward the fabric edges and then up to the other side of the fold, then mark a small arc on the top of the fabric fold holding the string two inches from the pencil; cut on the arc lines. Fold the circle of fabric and set aside.  Repeat the process with the printed fabric.  Lay each fabric circle on the table, fold the fabric in half on the fold line (the fabric will form a quarter of a circle) and cut from the bottom edge, through one thickness of the fabric, to the top arc to create an opening to wrap the skirt around the tree; repeat with the other fabric circle.  From the scraps of fabric, cut two strips of fabric 1×10 inches.

Fold the fabric strips in half lengthwise and stitch to make ties for the top of the skirt.  Place one fabric circle, right side up, on a flat surface.  Pin one end of each tie one inch below the top on each back opening side.  Place the other fabric circle, right side down (right sides now on the inside of the fabric pieces, and the ties are inside) on the first piece of fabric.  Pin the edges, leaving an opening on one back, side area for turning the fabric after it is sewn.  Sew around the pinned edges using a ½ inch seam (remembering to leave an opening for turning the fabric).  Remove the pins; reach inside the fabric circle and pull the opposite side of the skirt through the opening to turn the right sides out, and the wrong sides, sewn sides, of the fabric will be pulled to the inside of the tree skirt.  Stick your hand inside the circle and smooth the edges and extend the corners.  Pin around the outside edges to smooth them and to hold them in place for stitching around the skirt edges.  Top stitch ¼ to ½ inch from the edge, all the way around the tree skirt, closing the opening as you stitch, to finish your tree skirt.  Enjoy using your Christmas tree skirt; after you place it around the bottom of the Christmas tree, tie the ties in back.

 

Christmas Place Card Holders

Looking for the perfect Christmas party place card holder can be a real chore.  If you would like to create your own, I have listed three ideas.  All are economical, the difficulty varies, and the materials may, or may not, be on hand at your home.

 

Please read the description give for each Christmas party place card holder, and make sure you have all of the materials needed, before beginning the project.  Both of the free printable projects require only a home color printer, white cardstock paper, and paper glue.  Please abide by the copyright for each free printable.

 

1.  Free Printable Christmas Trees (visit my contributors page on Associated Content for the link)

 

Materials:

 

White cardstock paper

Printer

Small, sharp scissors

Craft knife

Metal edged or metal ruler

Scoring tool

Paper glue

Place cards

 

 

These white Christmas trees are very delicate and look beautiful grouped; by placing two trees, one large and one small tree, at each place setting, you will create a very delicate and festive atmosphere.

 

These trees are very economical, requiring only white cardstock paper and glue; however, they are very time consuming to make.  A large and small tree will be printed out on one sheet of paper.  Cut around the outside lines with sharp, small scissors; then, cut out the small shapes inside each tree with a craft knife on a cutting mat.  After you cut out one page of trees, you sort of get a sense of how to handle the scissors and craft knife to make the process a bit easier for the trees to follow.  Score the trees, through the center of each tree, along the red dashed line; fold along the scored line.  Glue two trees together along the folds to make one, standing tree.  Attach a place card to one of the trees or a folded card in front of the trees.

 

Make sure you have a box tall enough to hold the trees until you are ready to display them.  (Especially if you have a pet cat…)

 

2.  Natural Materials Place Card Holder

 

Materials:

 

Natural materials (pine cones,acorns,leaves,pine)

Glue gun and glue sticks

Ribbon

Wrapped colorful hard candy mints or candy canes

Decorative items

Place card

 

Collect natural materials such as pine cones and acorns.  Dry the materials in your microwave oven for a short period of time to make sure they are dry, and that no mold or small creatures are on them.

 

Use a glue gun to glue several pine cones and acorns together.  Three pine cones allow you to place two down and one standing up; surround them with acorns.  Use ribbon, artificial greenery and/or wrapped Christmas candies to give them color.  Experiment with the materials to find the design you like best.

 

Attach a place card to the completed project.

 

3.  Free Printable Sleigh (visit my contributors page on Associated Content for the link)

 

Materials:

 

White cardstock paper

Color printer

Small, sharp scissors

Metal edged or metal ruler

Scoring tool

Paper glue

Place card

Gift items optional

Decorations optional

 

 

A miniature sleigh may be printed to use as a place card holder.  The sleigh I made is printed from the 1:24 or half scale design.  The finished sleigh is approximately three inches long by two inches high.  The sleighs are easy to cut out, but, a bit difficult to glue together.  It just takes a bit of time and patience to make a very attractive sleigh.

 

One sleigh will print out on each sheet of white cardstock.  Cut the sleigh bodies, both floor/frame pieces and one sleigh seat.  Cut the notches on the floor/frame and seat pieces.  Score the floor/frame sides and the fold lines of the seat piece.  Use your fingers to curl the sleigh frame and floor pieces; glue the frame to one sleigh side then glue the other sleigh side onto the frame.  Stand the sleigh up to assure that the sleigh is level and adjust if necessary before the glue is completely dry.  Glue the floor inside the sleigh.  Fold the seat piece and glue inside the sleigh.

 

You may attach a place card to the sleigh with glue, or tuck the card inside the sleigh.  The sleigh is sturdy enough to place small candies inside.  Or fill the sleigh with artificial greenery to add more color.

 

You may print your own place cards to use with these ideas; using your home color printer and white cardstock. (visit my contributors page on Associated Content for the link)

 

All of these Christmas place card holders add color to your table.  Choose the project that will suit your needs, and that also fits your time available as well as your crafting ability.

 

Printable Christmas Gift Tags

 

You can print your Christmas gift tags at home, using your printer, at no cost other than your paper and ink.  You may want to use a variety of papers (cardstock, labels, photo paper) to make your gift tags.  You may also want to have a paper cutter and/or a sharp pair of scissors to cut the gift tags apart and a single hole punch handy to create a hole to slip a ribbon or colorful string through, for attaching the gift tag to your gift.

 

I have included a variety of sites that offer free, printable Christmas gift tags for your personal use.  You may wish to read the short description provided, visit each site, and then choose the tags most suitable to your needs or taste.

 

 

1.  http://www.allthingschristmas.com/printables.html

 

Victorian Angel, Children’s and Santa printable Christmas tags

 

These gift tags have a vintage appeal, and would delight young or old, woman or man.

The designs are delightfully Victorian and the colors are subtle, yet appealing.

 

 

2.  http://www.mintprintables.com/gift-tags/christmas/

 

Variety of Christmas tags

 

Here you will find six different designs of printable Christmas tags presented 10 of the same design on each page.  The designs include:  Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus, three angels, a mouse with a Santa hat, Santa’s sleigh and holly and berries.

 

 

3.  http://domania.us/quietstormcml/Gift-Tags/Gift-Tags.html

 

A variety of Christmas gift tags

 

26 different designs of printable Christmas gift tags

Designs include adult, children, religious and traditional

 

These gift tags offer you a wide variety of designs to choose from while appealing to almost everyone.  The designs are mixed on the pages, so, you cannot choose a specific category such as children’s tags, or religious tags to print out just that sheet.  The variety of designs is great however, and you may find just what you are looking for.

 

 

4.  http://www.creativity-portal.com/printables/snowflake.tags.html

 

Two styles of snowflake gift tags

 

Although these tags are limited to two snowflake designs, in two your choice of red or green, if you want gift tags with snowflakes on them you are in luck.  You can choose to create flat tags, or folded tags so that you may write a message inside the tag.  I like them both.

 

 

5.  http://www.packagetech.com/free-printable-christmas-tags.htm

 

Six pages of traditional Christmas gift tags

 

You will find six different designs for printing Christmas gift tags suitable for adults at this site.  The tags are presented with each design on a single page, and there are 12 tags on the page.  The designs include:  Berry Bar, Christmas Tree, Gothic Blessings, Gothic Merry Christmas, Holly and a Robin’s Nest.

 

 

6.  http://collectibles.about.com/library/holiday/bltags.htm

 

Cute character Christmas gift tags.

 

These gift tags will delight children, and adults who have a favorite character among the many choices.  The three groups of Christmas tags offer so many choices it may be hard to choose.

 

Christmas #1
Images include the following:
Pikachu; Pooh; Christmas Tree Cookie jar; Santa Cookie jar; Vintage Candles; Cookies of Life saying.

Christmas #2
Images include the following:
Old Toys; Taz; Coins; Antique cookie cutters.

Christmas #3
Images include the following:
Santa & Penguins; Grinch look; Snowman; Ornaments

 

7.  http://disney-stationary.com/stationary/Holidays/Christmas-Gift-Tags.p

 

Disney characters on Christmas gift tags to print

 

These Disney characters are so cute.  Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, Cinderella and more characters are featured on the gift tags.  It was a bit tricky to print these gift tags at first; the answer for me was to right click on the page of gift tags, save them and then use print.

 

 

8.  http://www.thekoala.com/christmastag.htm

 

Colorful Christmas gift tags

 

This site offers one page of twelve traditional Christmas designs.  The designs include: a bow, snowman, mistletoe, candy cane, wreath, bells, ornaments, a lamb, Christmas cookie, star and a mouse in a Santa hat.

 

 

9.  http://familycrafts.about.com/library/projects/bl121100d.htm

 

Six shaped Christmas gift tags

 

These gift tags to print and cut include the shapes:  bow, star, gingerbread boy,

Christmas tree, gift box and Christmas stocking.  They are all very attractive shapes and would be fun to print and then cut out including your children or grandchildren in the activity.

 

 

10.  http://www.gulf-shores-real-estate.com/2006-free-printable-christmas-tags.html

 

Traditional Christmas gift tags to print

 

This site offers a variety of traditional Christmas tag designs which are available to print.  Each page prints out with ten tags of the same design; designs include:  gilded pine cone, snowflake, vintage Santa, wreath, holly, Florentine tag, gold frame tag, red scroll tag, candles and poinsettias and a gingerbread boy.

 

 

 

Hopefully you found a site that offered you a selection of printable Christmas gift tags for your gift giving needs.  Enjoy these sites, and merry wrapping wishes to you!